Thursday, June 27, 2019

After 50 years: Dispute over Pippi Longstocking

In 1969 Rosy Teen & Orchestra Eric Frantzen singing "Hey, Pippi Langstrumpf" covered the Swedish title song for a TV series, "Här kommer Pippi Långstrump" by Inger Nilsson. The song was composed by Jan Johansson, the Swedish lyrics are written by Astrid Lindgren and the German lyrics by Wolfgang Franke.

The two lyricists have long since passed away. As SPIEGEL ONLINE has now made known, the heirs of Astrid Lindgren have been taking action since 2017 against the music publisher which holds the rights to the German version of the Pippi Longstocking song. Now the case is pending at Hamburg District Court because Lindgren's heirs believe that the German lyrics lack the necessary permission. It is not a simple translation, but a modification requiring approval.

For example, the Swedish original literally says: "That's not bad, I have a monkey, a horse and a villa, and it's also good to have a suitcase full of money", but the German text formulates: "I have a house, a colorful house, a little monkey and a horse, they look out the window from there".